Rumbling Thunder
by BananaLollypop
Summary: It's finally time for Lily Luna Potter to go to Hogwarts. She makes new friends, a couple of enemies, and constantly finds herself in trouble. But with a bigger threat just over horizon, slowly building up like rumbling thunder, can Lily and her friends get out unscathed? Sorry not great at summaries, story is hopefully better Please R&R! MultiChapter, rating may change
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **Okay, this is my first attempt at a HP fic...i really want to carry it on, i have some good ideas :) Please R&R and let me know what you think :) Anyways, enjoy...

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Lily looked up at the big brick wall in front of her. Her father's hand tightened on her shoulder, she looked up at him, smiling.

"Ready?" Harry Potter asked his only daughter, and he smiled as she replied.

"Ready." Lily said, tightening her grip on the bar of the trolley that held her trunk and her snowy owl, Hedwig II.

As Lily and her father raced at the wall, she got that familiar feeling just before they reached it that they were going to crash and end up sprawled on the floor. However, as usual, they didn't, and simply passed through to the other side, where platform nine and three quarters was already busy, despite it being forty-five minutes until the train left.

Lily heaved a sigh of relief as she reached the other side; she spotted her cousins, Hugo and Rose, not far away... James and Al had long since disappeared to dump their trunks before their friends arrived, and Rose's friend Scorpius Malfoy was hanging around with his father, kicking the pavement whilst simultaneously scuffing the ends of his polished black shoes.

Harry started to run over to where Ron was standing with Hugo, before turning back halfway there as they were having some sort of argument. He walked back over to where his wife was standing, slipping an arm around Ginny's waist. Lily sighed as her mother started fussing, doing the zip up on Lily's hoodie and brushing down her jeans.

"Mum!" Lily interrupted her, "I'm fine! I've got James and Al to look after me..."

"Yeah, if anyone wants to get at my little sis, they've got to get through me first!" James said, jumping down from the train carriage and throwing his arm around his eleven-year-old sister's shoulders. Lily smiled up at him.

"Plus, Teddy's starting as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor...as if he'd let anyone lay a finger on her." Rose said, joining them as Ron and Hugo squabbled over something. Hermione hugged Ginny, then Harry, as Al reappeared, now without trunk and pet ferret.

"No, Rose, it 'Professor Lupin' now," James said, sniggering.

"Hmm, 'Professor Lupin' who can hand out detentions and dock points from any arrogant Gryffindor, James." Harry said, smiling knowingly at his son.

"Hey, Lil," Hugo said, coming up to her smiling, apparently triumphant in whatever argument him and his father had been having. Lily smiled back.

"Hey, Hugh."

"Harry, who's the other kid with Malfoy?" Ron murmured, looking over to where Draco Malfoy was standing with Scorpius, his wife, Astoria, and another young boy, who looked to be around Lily and Hugo's age.

"His other kid, don't know his name. I don't think anyone does." Harry replied.

Lily studied the boy with fascination; unlike his older brother, this other boy had dirty blonde hair, which seemed to a mixture of that of his parents. Was middle height, and rather thin, and he resembled his older brother almost exactly, though the dark brown streaks the younger boy had in his hair and bright blue eyes were unique to him.

Just then, Scorpius walked over to the Potter/Weasley family.

"Hi Rose, hey Al," he said, grinning at Lily's brother and cousin, "Mr and Mrs Weasley." He said, nodding his hello, "Mr and Mrs Potter." He said also acknowledging Harry and Ginny. Scorpius had made history by being the first Malfoy ever to be sorted into Gryffindor. This had made the Malfoy family considerably more likable to the Potter/Weasley family, Ron in particular, though he was still not pleased about his only daughter being 'friends' with a Malfoy.

"Scorpius, you know their first names, just use them!" Rose said coldly; they had never been the closest of friends, and he would always end up annoying her for practically no reason.

"Rosie, he's just being polite!" Hermione said reprimanding her daughter, "Don't be rude!" Scorpius just shrugged it off.

"I was coming over to tell you that my parents would like to invite you to a Christmas luncheon at the Manor. They know it's early, but they just thought they'd get their foot in the door and ask before you make any other plans." Scorpius flashed a dazzling smile.

"We'd love to;" Harry said smiling at Ginny, "Wouldn't we?" Ginny smiled too.

"Of course," Ginny said.

"What about you, Mr and Mrs Weasley? Will you be attending?" Scorpius asked.

"Definitely," Ron said after sharing a look that said 'just say yes' with Hermione.

"Excellent." Scorpius said, still smiling. He flashed the stunning grin at Rose, before saying "I guess I'll see you on the train then, Rose. And Al, I have a, er...something special. " Al grinned excitedly at Scorpius.

"Hmm..." Rose said unenthusiastically, rolling her eyes.

"Rosie!" Hermione said as soon as Scorpius was out of earshot, "Did you really have to be so rude?"

"Mum, Malfoy is an arrogant, self-involved smartarse who thinks he's better than everyone else. I don't really want to feed his ego by being nice to him." Hermione just sighed, rolled her eyes and muttered something like 'you can be so like your father...'.

"Hey, Al, look," James said to his brother, nodding towards the barrier, "It's Lorcan and Lysander." The two brothers ran off to meet the twins, who were just coming through the barrier with their trolleys.

As time went on, the platform filled up, and a group of enthusiastic Gryffindors surrounded James and Al. Lily stood back with her parents, suddenly nervous; what if she didn't make any friends? What if no one in Gryffindor liked her? What if she wasn't in Gryffindor _at all_?

Harry noticed his daughter's worry.

"Come on, Lil, let's go and put your trunk by the door," he said to her, taking her hand and leading her towards the train. When they reached a quieter part of the train, Harry stopped. He crouched down, so he was almost level with Lily, just like her had with Al when it was his first year.

"What's troubling you?" Harry asked his daughter, "And don't say nothing, I know your worried face." He said, seeing she was about to protest his judgement. Lily sighed.

"What if no one likes me?" she asked him.

"That will _never_ happen, Lily," he told her smiling, "Everyone loves you! And even if they don't, you've got James and Al, and Hugh and Rose. It's not like you'll be alone."

"But they're all in Gryffindor!" Lily said, "What if I get sorted into Slytherin? Al almost did!"

Harry smiled, "Slytherin's not so bad," he told her, "Besides: you'd be an excellent addition to Slytherin if you were sorted there. But if you don't want to, then you don't have to. You stand up to that Sorting Hat. It's only an enchanted bit of fabric." Lily laughed.

Harry gave his daughter a hug, as a whistle blew, calling people onto the train.

"Time to go," Harry said to a now smiling Lily. Ginny came walking over; she had watched the scene from where she was standing with Hermione, smiling as her husband comforted their daughter.

"We'll see you at Christmas, Lily," Ginny said, also giving her a hug. Harry helped Lily lift her trunk onto the train, followed by her owl, then Lily jumped up and Harry closed the door behind her.

"Make sure James looks after you!" Harry said through the window, "No matter what house you're in." Lily nodded, and waved as the train started to move away from the platform. She waved out of the window until her parents were out of sight. Lily's head re-entered the train and she realised that she had no idea where either of her brothers or her cousins were. She picked up one end of her trunk and started dragging it down the carriage, struggling with Hedwig in her other hand, looking for an empty compartment.

She felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned, expecting to see James or Hugo or possibly Albus, but was instead faced with a complete stranger.

"Oh!" Lily said, sounding surprised, "Hello!" The stranger was a tall boy with rust brown hair in a similar style to James'. He wore plain jeans and a dark blue hoodie, and he smiled down at her.

"Are you a first year too?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Lily told him, surprised that this boy was the same age as her, "Is it that obvious?" the boy laughed.

"No, you're trunk's brand new, and you don't look old enough to have worn an old one out already. I'm Felix. Felix Williams."

"Williams?" Lily asked, immediately recognising the name, "Aren't your brother and sister the star beaters of the Gryffindor Quidditch team?"

"Yep that's them," he grinned, "What's your name?" Lily suddenly felt embarrassed that she hadn't told him her name.

"Lily Potter," she told him, smiling sheepishly.

"Potter?" Felix said excitedly, "Wow! Three minutes into my first year at Hogwarts and I've already made friends with a Potter..." Lily laughed. Hedwig screeched indignantly, thinking she had been forgotten; being jostled around in a cage was _not_ her idea of fun.

"Oops! Sorry Hedwig!" Lily said, starting to move up the carriage again.

"Hey, my compartment's empty apart from me; would you like to join me?" Felix asked her.

"You, are a life saver, you know that?" Lily said grinning as he took Hedwig from her so she could concentrate on her trunk.

After a few minutes, Felix directed Lily into an almost empty compartment. His trunk was up on the rack, and a small cage holding a ferret was sitting by the window.

"Aw, isn't he cute?" Lily cooed as she dropped her trunk and started stroking the ferret through the bars of the cage.

"Yeah, that's Hercules," Felix told her, putting Hedwig gently down on the seat.

Lily lifted her trunk up onto the rack, then sat opposite Felix, feeding Hedwig some nuts from her pocket.

"What house do you think you'll be in then?" Felix asked her, "Will the famous Lily Potter join her brothers in Gryffindor?"

"I hope so," Lily said laughing, "But there's a chance I'll be in Slytherin. Dad always said I was cunning enough to take my brothers on..." Felix laughed and Lily smiled. "What about you?" she asked him, "Do you think you'll join your brother and sister?"

"Probably," Felix said, "But I'm fine with that. From what Kerri and Alex say, Gryffindor is the best house anyway!"

The two of them sat their chatting for a while, talking about their home lives and what they thought Hogwarts would be like. When they had been on the train for nearly an hour, a breathless James poked his head through the door.

"At last!" he gasped, coming in and flopping down next to Lily, "I've been looking everywhere for you! Why'd you go off?"

"I didn't!" Lily protested, "You were the one who went off! I was looking for you everywhere. Then Felix came along..." she said, gesturing towards an awestruck Felix (two Potter's in _his_ compartment...?) "And he _very_ kindly helped me whilst YOU ran off because you had better things to do!"

"Whoa, okay, Lils, I'm sorry!" James said holding his hands up. It was then that Lily noticed the oddly shaped package in his hand.

"What's that?" she asked, nodding at the package.

"My birthday present to you," James said, grinning excitedly.

"But my birthday isn't until the beginning of October..." Lily said, confused.

"I know, but I couldn't wait, I was too excited, and you'll need it before then anyways," James said, handing her the long package. She glanced over at Felix with a questioning look, and he just shrugged.

Lily tore of the brown wrapping paper and gasped as she saw what was inside. It was a sleek, black, polished, shiny, brand-new, only-just-come-out Firebolt 360. The best broomstick IN THE WORLD!

"You have got to be kidding me!" Lily squealed, wrapping her arms around her eldest brother's neck, squeezing so tightly it was bordering on strangulation. "!" she said in a rush, not breathing once.

"Okay, er, Lily? Release?" James choked out and his sister promptly released him from her grasp.

"Why did you get me this?" she asked him, the grin still painted on her face.

"Quidditch tryouts of course!" James said, "You said you'd try out for chaser, and I was _not_ going to let my little sister do that on mum's old broom..."

"That's a...that's a..." Felix gasped, staring at the broom. He gulped, "That's a Firebolt 360!"

"Here, hold onto it for me, I'm starving," Lily said, shoving her brand new broom at Felix who liked he was about to faint; on Lily's hierarchy, it was food first, broom later. She walked out of the compartment, James following her, but then going in the other direction towards his friends.

"Lily!" Someone called, as she turned around and saw Hugo running towards her.

"Hey, Hugh! Where did you go off to?" she asked, still walking down the train towards where the lunch cart was.

"Rose was pestering me about getting a compartment and then she started lecturing me about what I should and shouldn't be doing when we get there and then she started rambling on about lessons, so I walked out." he told her, grinning, "I've got a feeling mum put her up to it." Lily's aunt Hermione was paranoid that her son would follow in the footsteps of almost every other Weasley/Potter boy, and spend his entire time at Hogwarts playing tricks and pranks on other people. Hermione had threatened to jinx Harry if he didn't tell both James and Albus that they were to keep Hugo out of any and all pranks.

"Sucks for you!" Lily said laughing; she was kind of glad that she had two, carefree brother's who still felt the need to look after her, as opposed to Hugo's slightly overbearing older sister who constantly lectured Hugo on this, that and everything in between.

When they reached the cart they pulled some sickles out of their pockets and bought about half of the sweets there. They struggled back to Lily and Felix's compartment, where Felix had now been joined by two people Lily recognised from the few Gryffindor Quidditch matches she had been allowed to go to. Felix was still holding onto Lily's new broom, and it seemed the other two were admiring it.

"Hey Lil!" he said, "This is my brother Alex and my sister Kerri. Otherwise known as..."

"Gryffindor's star beaters," Lily said, smiling at them, "Hi."

"Hey," Alex said turning away from the broom, "We just came to have a look at you broom...I can't believe James bought you one..."

"Neither can I!" Lily laughed, as Felix handed her back her broom and she carefully put it on the rack with her trunk.

"There you are!" James said to Alex and Kerri, appearing at the door, "Dom's calling a team meeting; apparently we've got to get training before everyone if we want to win the cup, so she wrote ahead to McGonagall, and our first training session's tomorrow." Kerri and Alex groaned.

"She is _so_ paranoid!" Alex said, "We don't even have a full team yet! We still need two new chasers! She can't expect Al to play on his own!"

"Plus, Alex and I don't have brooms..." Kerri said awkwardly.

"_WHAT_?" Dominique Weasley screeched, appearing in the doorway, "How do you expect to play if you don't have _brooms_?"

"Dom, calm it!" Alex yelled above her ranting, "Kerri and I had a bit of an unfortunate fight during the holidays that ended in our brooms becoming...well, they're not brooms anymore, let's put it that way. But mum had to go out to get Felix's broom anyway, so she got us new ones whilst she was there. Problem is, they didn't have any in stock, so we've got to wait for them to be delivered. They said they'd owl them to us at school, so just calm it, okay?" Dominique groaned and started muttering away angrily in French.

"I'm getting a broom?" Felix said excitedly once his siblings and James had sat down with him and Lily.

"Ahh..." Kerri said awkwardly.

"We shouldn't have told you that..." Alex continued, just as awkwardly.

"Woop!" Felix said, punching his arm in the air.

"You have to write a letter to mum saying you were surprised when you got it, though," Kerri said seriously, "She'll kill us if she knows you found out...I swear to Merlin, if you tell her we told you I'll hex you into next term!" she threatened. Felix glanced at Lily with wide eyes, a look Lily returned.

* * *

Almost the whole Potter/Weasley family ended up in Lily's compartment before the train journey was up. Fred II, Lily, James and Albus' cousin, also appeared, with half a trunk full of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products, which he was proudly showing off to the first years. Roxanne, Fred's sister, and Lucy, another cousin, were also starting with Lily and Hugo, and they were quite happily talking to the two of them and Felix, as well as Listening to Rose tell them all about Hogwarts. Dominique returns once she had had a rant, and was now discussing tactics with James, Kerri, and Alex. Albus had appeared after he could find just _one person_ in his entire family, and then they all popped up crowded into a single compartment.

"What _are_ you lot doing?" he asked, opening the door and realising he couldn't go any further because four pairs of legs were all bundled into one spot across the door because there wasn't any room for their feet elsewhere.

"We're discussing tactics," Dom said to her cousin, "And where were you anyway? Didn't you get the message about the team meeting?"

"Yeah, I did! 'Come to the second carriage from the back of the train. Team Meeting. Dom x'. I get there and the compartment is completely empty!"

"That was probably when Dom went off to have a hissy fit over Kerri and me not having brooms," Alex said laughing.

"I did _not_ have a hissy fit!" Dom squeaked, making Al laugh.

"Well, whatever, can we please go and sit somewhere were we're not practically on each other's laps?" Al asked, "Because even if I could get in there, I wouldn't, because there's no room to _breathe_."

Dom rolled her eyes, but stood up, as did the other three members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and the five of them walked back to Dom's compartment at the end of the train. The Scamander twins, Lorcan and Lysander then appeared at the doorway, and Fred disappeared before any of the first years could say 'disapperate'.

* * *

The first years changed into their robes when Al had stuck his head around the door saying that they'd be arriving soon. Lily, Hugo and Felix hadn't eaten since the sweets they'd bought from the cart when they'd gone up there before noon, so they were all looking forward to the feast. Lucy and Roxy had long since disappeared, as Molly, Lucy's older sister, had come along saying there was a fight further down the train, and the two girls dashed off without a second thought.

Hugo had begged Lily to get her broom out again, and Lily promptly refused, due to the fact that she had already taken it down and put it back up on the rack about an hundred thousand times during their time on the train, and she was getting a bit fed up about it.

"Come on, Lily! Just so I can see it! Pretty please?" he put on the puppy-dog face he always used on Hermione to get his own way. Lily sighed.

"Fine, but this is the last time!" Lily said, standing up on the chair and taking her broom down. She had to admit, she did enjoy the feeling she got when she held her broom; it was similar to how she felt when she found her wand in Ollivander's, but not as intense.

"Wow..." Hugo said, almost speechless, "I can't _believe_ James would get you one of these..."

"I know," Lily agreed, "It's incredible..."

Then the train came to a halt and all three of them leapt to their feet excitedly; they were finally going to Hogwarts!

* * *

"Firs' years! Firs' years, this way! Firs' years, over 'ere!" Lily heard Hagrid's distinct voice booming across the platform. Grabbing hold of Felix's hand, she ran across to where the voice was coming from, and came face to face with Hagrid, who grinned down at her.

"Lil' Lily Potter! My, its bin a while since I last saw you! Haven't you grown!"

"Hi Hagrid," Lily said, smiling. Felix looked utterly dumbfounded by the fact that he was standing in front of a huge half giant.

"Oh, Felix, this is Hagrid, Care of Magical Creatures professor, Hogwarts Gamekeeper, and an old family friend."

"Hey, les' o' the ol', you," Hagrid said, still smiling good-naturedly.

Soon, Hagrid was surrounded by a large group of first years, all eager to get to Hogwarts.

"Righ', firs' years, follow me! Firs' years, this way!" Hagrid boomed over the voices of the chattering first years.

He led them towards the black lake where about twenty boats were bobbing up and down gently in the water, waiting for the first years to scramble into them.

"No more'n four to a boat! Mind yer step gettin' in, now!" As Lily and Felix had been separated from Hugo on the platform, they just scrambled into the nearest boat, whilst Hugo had managed to find Lucy and Roxy and they were in another boat. Hugo waved across at her, and Lily happily waved back. She could see Hogwarts in the distance; all she wanted to do now, was get there after so many years of waiting. He thoughts were interrupted by two more people clambering into their boat.

"Phew!" the boy said, "We thought's we'd have to wait for them to send us another boat! All the rest are full!"

"Hi, I'm Lily," she said smiling, holding her hand out to him.

"I'm Merlin," he told her, shaking her hand.

"Ha, a wizard called Merlin, that's original!" Felix scoffed. Merlin just laughed.

"You think that about my name, this is my twin sister Magyk*." Felix tried to suppress a laugh, but failed, as he started giggling. Even Lily couldn't help but smile. Luckily, Magyk had a good sense of humour, and laughed along with Felix.

"We know, our names are ridiculous in this world," she said when they'd stopped laughing, "And do you want to know the irony of it all?" she asked. Lily and Felix nodded.

"We're Muggle born." Merlin said, which just set the four of them off again; Lily had tears rolling down her cheeks where she'd been laughing so hard.

"Everyone hol' tight' now!" Hagrid called as the boats lurched forwards and started to float towards the castle.

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**So, what did you think? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Any ideas to make it better? Constructive criticism is happily received and taken into account. i will try and update soon :)**

******* Magyk is said the same as Magic...i just thought i'd clarify :)**

**Pretty Please review! Reviews make me a happy person :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Okay, first of all, sorry for the long wait; i had D of E and a whole lot of writer's block that just refused to go away. BUT thanks to a very good writing friend who continually nagged me for about a week and a half (i love you really :D) I've finally got this chapter finished and uploaded :D please, enjoy...

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The boats docked on the other side of the lake, and the first years hurriedly scuttle out of the boats. They all gathered in a crowd in front of Hagrid.

Lily turned around, just to look over the lake again, but instead saw a figure, moving stealthily around the edge of the lake. Lily frowned, wondering who would be sneaking around at Hogwarts.

_It's probably James, _Lily thought to herself, _trying to play a prank on Hagrid or all us first years. _She decided to wait until they reached the Great Hall before saying anything to anyone.

Hagrid led them all into a chamber off the Great Hall.

"Now, yer have to wait 'ere 'til Professor Longbottom comes to take you to the Sortin'." He said, nodding a goodbye at Lily, Hugo, Lucy and Roxy before walking back out.

"What was up with you outside?" Felix murmured in her ear as the other first years started chatting loudly.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, awkwardly.

"When you looked at the edge of the lake? You looked like you'd seen something..." Lily sighed.

"I think it was James..." she said, "Probably planning a prank to pull on Hagrid or something. They were acting strange, that's all."

"So you're not sure if it _was_ James?" he asked, "What if it was someone trying to break into the castle?"

"I'd like to see them try," Lily scoffed, "Dad made sure that the first thing he did when he became Head Auror was that security at Hogwarts was improved. There are enchantments over the whole castle against pretty much every curse known to wizard kind. I'm probably just overreacting."

The first years' chatter stopped as the big oak doors opened and Neville Longbottom walked through smiling.

"I'd like everyone to follow me to the Great Hall for the Sorting. And, please, keep talking to a minimum." He glanced knowingly at Roxy and Lucy, who everyone knows are the chatterboxes of the Potter/Weasley family. Lily realised that having a close family friend as your teacher could be both beneficial, and detrimental...on the one hand, he might give you slack in lessons. On the other, he knew all about you and your personality traits, and Lily knew that Neville knew _tons_ of embarrassing stories from when she was little...

Instead of leading them to the Great Hall, he guided them, standing at the back of the crowd. Lily hung back to ask him about James.

"Is James in the Great Hall?" she asked him quietly. He smiled down at her.

"Nice to see you too, Lily," he teased. Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled. "And yes he is. I'm assuming he's taking this evening off before pulling some stunt during his first lesson tomorrow, which I am sincerely hoping is not with me..." he suddenly looked curious, "Why do you ask?" Lily shifted uncomfortably.

"I saw someone, around the lake, when we got off the boats. They looked like they were trying to sneak around, so I thought it might have been James trying to play a trick on Hagrid, but if he's been in the Great Hall..." Lily trailed off worriedly.

"I'll check it out," Neville said, smiling, "Don't worry, Lils; it's probably nothing."

When Lily walked into the Great Hall, all worries of people sneaking around Hogwarts evaporated, as she was captivated by the enchanted ceiling and the four, long tables full of babbling Hogwarts students. Lily thought about how, in about half an hour, she'd be one of those babbling students. As she walked down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, she saw James sitting chatting happily with Kerri, Alex and Dom, his back turned away from her. She saw Al sitting opposite him, and wooped when he saw her amongst the other first years.

"Woop! Go Lily!" He yelled, causing James to turn around and join in. Pretty soon, Fred, Molly, Dom and Rose were also shouting. Lily went bright red with embarrassment and looked down at the floor.

They were still shouting when the first years reached the front of the hall, and McGonagall stood up.

"Thank you, Potter's and Weasley's, that will be quite enough of that!" she said grimly.

Felix nudged Lily, grinning, then mouthed 'I'm glad that's not my family!' which made her blush even more.

"If everyone could please refrain from interrupting the Sorting..." McGonagall said, staring pointedly at James, Al, and the Weasley's, "We will begin. Professor Longbottom?" she said, indicating that Neville could start.

"Banks, Henry." He called. Lily watched nervously as a tall boy with light brown hair walked up to the stool sitting on the teachers' platform at the front of the hall. He sat down, and Lily could see his turquoise eyes and slightly tanned face, as Professor Longbottom dropped the hat onto his head.

"Hmm...hah...let me see now...it'll have to be...GRYFFINDOR!" cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table as a now smiling Henry jumped off the stool and sat down with the other Gryffindors.

"Campbell, Carter." A boy with black hair and dark eyes went up to the stool scowling; he meant business. After a few seconds of the hat going 'hmmm' and 'Ahh', it shouted "SLYTHERIN!" The Slytherin table roared as Carter Campbell walked down, an evil sort of grin on his face.

"Cross, Daisy." Neville called, and a dark skinned girl with her hair neatly plaited at the back of her head made her way up to the stool confidently. Her confidence obviously paid off, as the hat screamed "RAVENCLAW!" before it had even touched her head. Daisy jumped up smiling, and dashed down to the Ravenclaw table, where they were cheering and clapping.

By the time it came to Lily, there had been six new Hufflepuffs, four Slytherins, two Gryffindors and five Ravenclaws.

"Potter, Lily." She gasped nervously, as she walked up to the stool; Felix grabbed her arm and squeezed it comfortingly.

"Good luck!" he mouthed at her and she grinned back appreciatively.

As she sat on the stool, and the hat was dropped on her head, she heard the Sorting Hat debating with itself.

"_Ah, another Potter. Not like her brother's though. No, this one likes to be different, likes to be outside of the family box...should she be in a different house I wonder...?"_

_Please don't put me in another house; please don't put me in another house!_ Lily begged silently.

"_No? But you could do so well in Ravenclaw...or Slytherin...yes, Slytherin would suit you very well," _the hat said, "_Well, if you're sure...I'll put you in..._ GRYFFINDOR!" he shouted the last bit out loud, and Lily heaved a huge sigh of relief as her brothers began wooping and cheering again as she joined them at the Gryffindor table. She sat down next to Albus, who had saved her a seat.

"Nice one Lils!" he yelled over the noise of the cheering Gryffindors. Lily grinned at him. A few more people were sorted, but Lily wasn't really paying any attention. Well, until it came to Felix.

"Williams, Felix." Neville called out. there was only Felix and another girl left.

Felix strode up to the stool, absolutely no emotion showing.

"_Ahh...Felix Williams, younger brother of the Williams Twins...different from your siblings though, aren't you. Not as daring. Not as willing to risk yourself. Yet I see bravery, and loyalty. You work hard, in every other aspect you are exactly like your older brother and sister..."_

_I am my own person..._Felix thought grudgingly.

"_Ah, yes there's no doubt about that. However, I still say you belong in..._ GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily cheered the loudest of them all as Felix rose from his seat to sit with her, grinning.

"We didn't get to meet properly earlier, I'm Al, Lily's older brother," Al said, bending forwards so that he could see Felix on the other side of Lily.

"Don't let him go over protective brother on you; he's not used to me having a friend who's a guy..." Lily murmured in Felix's ear. Felix laughed at Al's bemused face. The final girl was sorted into Hufflepuff, before Neville took the stool and hat out of the Great Hall.

Roxy, Lucy and Hugo were also sorted into Gryffindor, but they were sitting further up the table, as far away from their older siblings as possible.

Magyk came running down the hall towards Lily's end of the table.

"_There_ you are! We saw you when you got sorted, but we didn't see where you sat down...we looked like idiots sitting down there on our own..." Magyk said grinning. Merlin strolled down the aisle at more of a leisurely pace.

"Subtle, sis, subtle..." he teased, grinning as his twin hit him.

"Are you two gonna sit down or not? Felix asked, grinning at their banter. As the two of them sat down, McGonagall stood up at the teachers' table and the room fell silent.

"To our new students, welcome to Hogwarts. To our old, I expect that you will not be listening to this speech as you have heard it before," a ripple of laughter came from the students. "And, before I deliver my usual start of term speech," groans took the place of the previous laughter, "I think its about time we enjoyed our delicious feast. Enjoy!" McGonagall sat down as the gold plates on the table filled with food, and everyone started eating. James piled about eight chicken legs onto his plate and started ripping the meat off with his teeth. Al wasn't much better.

"God, you're as bad as Uncle Ron!" Lily exclaimed, watching her brother's easting with a disgusted look on her face. Al swallowed.

"It's called _enjoying_ your food, Lils. You should try it some time!" he said grinning.

"I can enjoy my food without looking like a pig, thank you very much!" she said, choosing the pick the chicken off the bone and then eat it, instead of using her brothers' method of 'eating'. "You don't see Felix and Merlin doing..." she paused as she turned to look at Felix and Merlin, who were eating in an identical fashion to her brothers. James and Al just laughed as Lily groaned.

By the time everyone had finished eating dessert, everyone was happily full and chatting with their friends. James, Al, Kerry and Alex were entertaining Lily, Felix, Magyk and Merlin with stories from their last two years at Hogwarts, which had them all in fits of laughter.

"And then, there was this onetime..." James gasped between laughing, "Where, Neville ended up hanging, _from the ceiling_! And his wand fell out of his pocket so he couldn't get down!" The story itself wasn't that funny, but the mental image of Neville hanging upside down from the greenhouse ceiling was too much for them to bare as they all started wetting themselves with laughter again.

As McGonagall once again stood up, the room fell silent once more.

"I have been reminded to tell you that magic in the corridors is strictly forbidden," she began, "And also that the Forbidden Forest is named as such for the precise reason that no student is to enter it. I would like to welcome one new member of staff this year, Professor Theodore..." Teddy coughed loudly at the use of his full name, "Professor _Teddy_ Lupin," McGonagall corrected herself, "Who will fill the spot of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." The students clapped politely, with James and Fred slipping a few woops in every so often.

As Lily was clapping for her god-brother, she realised that Neville's seat had been vacated since the last time she looked up to the teachers' table. She wondered where he was for a second, before remembering their conversation before the Sorting.

"_I'll check it out," Neville said, smiling, "Don't worry, Lils; it's probably nothing." _

Maybe that's where Neville had gone...

"And finally, those who would like to try out for their house Quidditch team should sign up when the captains put the notice up in the common room. Captains will please come within the next two weeks to let me know when they will be holding try-outs. First years, please follow your house prefects to the dormitories. For the rest of you: off to bed!"

There were loud scraping noises as the benches got pushed back and everyone got up to go to bed. Lily walked up to the top of the hall, where the two Gryffindor prefects, Annabel Wilson and Jeremy Harrison, were calling all of the first years. Felix, Merlin and Magyk stuck close by them, and Lily led the way to the end of the hall. Hugo was standing there, looking bored out of his mind.

"What's up with you?" Lily grinned.

"The second I stood up Rose started lecturing me about the Gryffindor common room... I'm going to see it in five minutes; she didn't need to tell me every single detail!" Hugo said, exasperated.

The Gryffindor prefects led the first years up to the Gryffindor common room, explaining about the moving staircases and pointing out random classrooms and secret passageways as they went.

When they reached the Gryffindor common room, Lily saw the giant portrait of the Fat Lady that both her parents and brothers had told her hid the entrance of the common room.

"Password?" she asked mysteriously.

"Adipem domina," Jeremy said, and she swung open. "You all need to remember that," he said as they all scrambled through, "If you forget the password, you can't get in. If you can't get in, you sleep in the corridor. So remember: adipem domina."

The prefects led the first years up to the dormitories, and Lily was relieved to find that she was sharing with Lucy, Roxy and Magyk, as well as another two girls, Melanie James and Tia Harding.

After a brief introduction, they all changed into pyjamas and everyone but Lily collapsed into bed, too tired to do anything else. Lily sat at the top end of her bed, which was situated right under a big window, and looked out over the Black Lake and the Forbidden Forest. She gasped slightly as she saw the same figure as earlier, creeping towards the Hogwarts Boundaries, where several enchantments protected the school from being broken into. She blinked as the figure passed over the border, and when she looked back, they were gone.

Meanwhile, in professor McGonagall's office, Neville was sitting in front of her desk, whilst McGonagall herself was pacing behind it.

"And you are definitely sure it was a break in and not just the enchantments weakening?" McGonagall asked, seriousness and worry both emanating from her voice.

"It was a break-in," Neville assured her, "There was a massive whole blasted into the barrier...that's not just a weakening, Minerva." McGonagall nodded curtly, before pointing her wand from the window, muttering numerous spells, fixing the barrier.

"Alert the other teachers," she said gravely, "We may just have something evil on our hands..."

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**What do you think? Shall i continue? I'd love to hear your thoughts, so pretty please review! Thanks again to that special friend :D Next chapter may take a while, but it WILL be up by this time next week...I hope...**


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